India struggling to breathe

There was a time when winter in the Indian capital was a glorious thing. Clear, sunny days and crisp cold nights.

No longer. Over the last decade air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare.

New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's most polluted major city, surpassing Beijing. While the Chinese capital has made progress in spreading awareness about air pollution and is taking steps to address it, New Delhi has barely begun to acknowledge the problem.

But as hacking coughs linger for months and red, watery eyes itch, a slow awareness is developing.

Some people tie handkerchiefs around their mouths and noses and others wear surgical masks.

Sitesh Singh drives one of the city's many auto rickshaws and suffers from asthma. He has started wearing a surgical mask through the winter and says it helps him breathe.

While surgical masks protect from larger pollution particles they do little to filter out smaller PM2.5, the most lethal particulate pollution that can become lodged deep inside the lungs.

While there is scant reliable data on respiratory illness in India, doctors say the number of cases is rising and the ones they see are more serious.

Over the last week PM2.5 levels have soared above 300 micrograms per cubic meter on some days, 12 times the standard set by the World Health Organization.

When air quality hits hazardous levels in China schools may be closed, industries shut down and government vehicles taken off the roads.

India has no such emergency protocols. Anti-pollution laws remain widely ignored and unenforced. Its fledgling air quality index covers only a few cities with a patchy network of monitors that often don't work.

Globally, air pollution kills millions of people every year, including more than 627,000 in India, according to WHO.

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Dec. 1, 2015 photo, Sharma wears a mask to protect from pollution as he sits at the Lodhi garden in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 25, 2015 photo, Indian student Aman Phogot, 19, who wears a mask to protect himself from pollution stops to pose for a photograph as he walks towards a metro station in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 23, 2015 photo, Virdhi, 56, wears a scarf on his face to protect from pollution, as he sits near a two wheeler workshop in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 27, 2015 photo, an Indian woman covers her face from pollution as she waits at a bus station in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 25, 2015 photo, Sitesh Singh, 48, an auto rickshaw driver, wears a mask to protect himself from pollution in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov.27, 2015, photo, an Indian woman, who has her face covered to protect from pollution and dust, poses at a foot over bridge in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 25, 2015 photo, birds fly in the morning as buildings are covered with smog in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Dec 1, 2015 photo, streaks of light show traffic moving in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 23, 2015 photo, an Indian woman riding a two wheeler has her face covered to protect from pollution as she waits at a traffic signal in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Nov. 24, 2015 photo, commuters walk as vehicles move at a traffic signal in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

India Struggling to Breathe

In this Dec 1, 2015 photo, smoke billows out of a chimney of a small scale factory in New Delhi, India. Over the last decade, the city's air pollution has grown so rapidly that the cold weather turns the city into a grey, smog-filled health nightmare. New Delhi has earned the dubious distinction of being the world's dirtiest city, surpassing Beijing, once the poster child for air pollution. (AP Photo /Tsering Topgyal)

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